Improvement in burglar-alarms



.Patented Nov. 17, 1868.

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geweer www Letters Patent No. 84,153, dated November 17, 1868.

INIPROVEMENT IN BURG-LAR-ALARMS.

kw-v The Schedule refened to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all to 'whom these presents shall come:

ing, of the entrance to or attempt to eiiect an entrance' by bnrglars, and to indicate the precise room or point at which such entrance is attempted, the invention further serving the purpose, at the time ot' giving the alarm,

of lighting a lamp, in order to give the occupants ofthe apartment opportunity to prepare themselves to receive the burglars.

The invention consists in a box or case, cfa rect- A angular or other proper shape, having located in its interior, and preferably at one corner thereof, an ordinary clock-alarm apparatus, and having extending across its interior, and in immediate proximity to such alarmmechanism, a horizontal bar, suspended upon or from a pendulous tripper, which in turn is supported upon a pin or fulcrum, inserted within astandard or suppoi't fixed to the top of the case, the upper and shorter arm of such tripper acting in connection with a vibrating rod or match-,carrier in suc-h manner as to act as a trigger to hold the match-cazrier in one extreme of its movement until the alarm is sounded, and upon sounding of such alarm, to release the match-carrier, and allow itto be thrown suddenly forward and ignited, and iname the wick of a lamp placed upon the top of the case, and immediately adjacent to the match-carrier, the tripper and its bar being actuated at the proper time by one or more of a series of spring-clutches applied horizontally within the case, and arranged with respect to such tripper as hereinafter explained, these spring-clutches being provided with indicators or pointers, and in tin-n operated upon by a like number ot'-trippingleve1's, connected by wires with the d'ierent doors or windows of the dwell- `ing, an so that a slight movement of the door or window shall operate the levers and spring-catches, and sound the alarm.

To enable others skilled in mechanics to construct and apply my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, and illustrating my invention, A denotes a rectangular box or ease, of suitable size and shape, for containing and supporting the operative parts ofthe mechanism, and upon the top of which, and to the centre of one side thereof, a lamp, a, is applied.

rBhe portion of the mechanism for igniting the match consists of a vibrating arm, b, supported at its lower endwithin a bracket or standard, c, such standard c being affixed to the top of the case at about its centre, and immediately contiguous to the lamp a, before mentioned, the lower part ofthe vibrating arm b having a spur, e, formed upon one side of it, andon a level or thereabouts with its fulcrum, against the underside of which the freeend ot'a plate-spring, j, presses, and serves to force the upper extremity of the arm b ina direction away from such spring, and so as to bring it in a line with or opposite to the wick of the lamp a, the arm or carrier b being at such a distance from the lamp that a match, when applied to it, shall be caused to rest immediately over the lamp-wick. The fixed end of the spring f is screwed in a proper manner to the top of the case A, or to an extension, g, of the standard c.

For the purpose of igniting the match applied to the carrier l1, I apply to the top othe case A, and to one side of such'ca-rrier, a post, It, carrying at its top atrame or guide, l, for holding the strip It of sand-paper, or other suitable material, such guide and sand-paper being situated inthe path or' movement of the match when apin oirler to insure, the attriticn of the end ofthe match against it. v

rlhe post h. should be applied to the top of the case A in such manner that its distance from the matchcarrier may be varied or adj usted, in order to accom- Inodate it to matches of different lengths, or to insure the striking of the match against its friction-material. For retaining or setting the match-carrier b in its extreme position away from the lamp, and against the ing tripper or rod, ym, pivoted to such standard by a pin, n, passing horizontally lthrough the two, and immediately below the fulerum of the match-carrier, the lower or ylonger arm o of such tripper, extending downward into the interior of the case A, through an aperture, p, made in its top, the upper and shorter arm q of such tripper resting (when the carrier l) is set) lun- .derneath or in contact with a projection or notch, fr, made' in one side of the lower end of the carrier, and lopposite the spur e, before mentioned, tle construcand the tripper being much the same as the tumbler and trigger of a cheap construction of re-arm locks.

To the lower end o of the tripper m I atix a long case A,.and at right angles to the path of movement of the match-carrier, and I connect one end of such bar s to an ordinary clock-alarm escapement placed within the case A, and in such manner that a swinging movement of either end of the bar s in either direction shall aetuate such escapement, and sound an alarm.

As this escapement is of any well-known construction, and as the mode of c attaching the'bar s to it will plied to the vibrating carrier b, and at an angle thereto,

force of the spring f, I apply to the standard o a swing'- tion and application of the lower part of the carrier bar, .s, extending 4across the interior or chamber t of the readily suggest itselftoany one conversant with clocks, further reference to it in this specification is not considered necessary.

The portion ofthe mechanism designed for actuating the alarm and the match-ca-rrier is constructeil as follows:

A series of horizontal catch-bars or sliding rods, t t t, Sto., are extended through one side ofthe ease, and into its interior, at right angles to and upon the same horizontal plane the ba-r s, and so disposed with respect to such bar, that, when at their extreme inward position, they shall strike or abut against such bar.

The outer ends of the rods t t t, ive., are provided with knobs a a fa, 85o., as represented in the accompanying drawings, while their inner ends are supported in a partition, e, extending across the interior-of the case A.

For holding the catch-bars or rods t L t, &` c., in their eXtreme outward position, a notch or indentation, a', is made in the upper side of each bar, into which the end of the case A extends, thelsprings w w, &c., serving to secure the rod in contact with such end ofthe case until depressed by the action of a series of tripping-levers, shown at y y y, Sac., in the drawings.

These levers, as therein shown, consist of a number of levers pivoted to a horizontal bar, Z, in such manner as to be susceptible of free vertical movements or oscillations thereon, such bar Z containing the levers y y ly, tite., being secured to the wa-ll or other .portion or the apartment in which it is desired to place the apparatus, the longer arms of the levers y y y being connected, by means of wires, with the various doors or windows ofthe building in which'theapparatus is situated, the fulcrum of these levers being situated at about two-thirds the length from the 'said wires.

Furthermore, I apply to the upper side of each of the rods t t t,and at about the centre ofthe same, a'n upright post or wire, a', such posts extending upward through slots b' b', 85e., made in the top ofthe case A, and being furnished at their upper ends with hands or pointers, c c c', 85o., arranged as shown in l ofthe drawings. l p

I also aiiix to the top ofthe case A, and in an axial line with the pointers c c c', Sto., and at the end ofthe slots b b', 85o., a series of initial letters or numerical gures, these gures or letters being identiiied, respectively, with the different apartments of the building, the doors or windows ofwhich are connected with the levers y y y, before mentioned.

A spiral spring, w, is coiled about each rod t, and between the partition'v and the indicator-posts afa, &c., one c nd of such spring being secured to the partition lv, and the other end to rod t, and serving by its contractile power-to force the rod inward, alnd in Contact with the bar s.

A person, upon retiring at night, winds up the clockescapement, shown at j", in the dmwings, and forces back the match-carrier b against the force of the spring f, and into the position shown in fig. 2 of the drawings, a match having been previously applied to the upper end of the carrier, and the cap of the wick-tube ofthe lamp removed, the rods t t t being drawn outward to their fullest extent, and locked to the ends of the case A, as before mentioned.

The case A is then to be placed upon a table or other convenient object in the seepin,fg-apartment, and so tl'iat the shorter arms of thc levers y l1/ y, &c., sha-ll, when in about a horizontal position, rest upon the top of the knobs n u a of the rods t t t, it being understood, as before stated, that the bar carrying the levers 1/ y 1/ is fixed to some convenient part ofthe apartment, and the levers comlected with the various windows and doors of the building, the number of rods t t, Sac., and levers y y y, being proportioned to the number of rooms in the building iny which the apparatus is en'nployed, all the doors and windows of one apartment being 'connected to but one of the levers y y, and so that a pressure upon any one of these wires shall actuate the lever.

The least attempt made to tamper with any one of the wires, by opening the door or window to which it is attached, or by endi'aavoring to cut such wire, willcau'se an instantaneous depression ofthe shorter Varm of one ofthe levers y 1/, &c., which will cause corresponding depression of the outer end of one of the rods t t, and allow it to be shot inward by the action of its coiled spring, w. As this rod shoots forward, its inner end strikesagainst the face of the bar s, and releases the alarm-1nechanism ofthe elock-escapement, and sounds an alarm sufficient to awaken the occupa-nt of the apartment..

This movement ofthe bar salse causes a movement of the tripper m, and release-s it from contact with the to throw such carrier quickly forward toward the lamp, the match, during this movement, impinging aga-inst the friction-card or slip 7.', and being ignited, and resting immediately over the wick of the lamp (e, and inilaming it.

The ringing of the alarm awakens the sleeper, who, by the aid ofthe lamp, is enabled to determine, by means of the pointers and figures, exactly at. what particular point the attempt to enter the buildingv is being made, and gives him ample time to collect himself, and make his prel'laration accordingly, this being the most important and valuable feature in my invention.

Should an attempt at entrance be made at more than one point in the building at tlre same time, by different persons, the indicators will, of course, denote the different points.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure bvLetters `Patent of the United States l. The combination, with the horizolital-sliding-rods t, for actuating the bar s, of the upright posts-(1,aud their pointers c', moving in slots formed in the case A, and arranged, with relation to the numerical figures or letters attached to the said case, as herein shown and specified.

2. The combination, with the vibrating bar s, operated by the rods t, as described, and thetripper an, to which said bar is attached, of the vibrating match-carrier, and its actuating-spring, arranged to operate in connection with the friction-plate and lamp-a, as herein shown and speciiied.

3. The herein-described construction and arrangement of the iiiction-plate supporter l1, so that it may be adjusted to any desired distance and angle, with respect to the swinging matcb-carrier, as and for the purposes set forth.

.HERMAN J'. WOLTERS.

Witnesses:

J. M. Cooney, H. il. MARSH.

notch y'r of the 1natcb-carrier b, and allows the spring j' 

